Land application uses for dry FGD by-products, Phase 1 report

Technical Report · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10107385· OSTI ID:10107385

Bigham, J; Dick, W; Forster, L; Hitzhusen, F; McCoy, E; Stehouwer, R; Traina, S; Wolfe, W

The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act have spurred the development of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) processes, several of which produce a dry, solid by-product material consisting of excess sorbent, reaction products containing sulfates and sulfites, and coal fly ash. FGD by-product materials are treated as solid wastes and must be landfilled. It is highly desirable to find beneficial reuses for these materials provided the environmental impacts are minimal and socially acceptable. Phase 1 results of a 4 and 1/2 year study to demonstrate large volume beneficial uses of FGD by-products are reported. The purpose of the Phase 1 portion of the project was to characterize the chemical, physical, mineralogical and engineering properties of the FGD by-product materials obtained from various FGD technologies being developed in the state of Ohio. Phase 1 also involved the collection of baseline economic data related to the beneficial reuse of these FGD materials. A total of 58 samples were collected and analyzed. The results indicated the chemical composition of the FGD by-product materials were dominated by Ca, S, Al, and Si. Many of the elements regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency reside primarily in the fly ash. Phase 1 results revealed that FGD by-product materials are essentially coal fly ash materials diluted with unreacted sorbent and reaction products. High volume beneficial reuses will depend on the economics of their substituting for existing materials for various types of applications (e.g. as an agricultural liming material, soil borrow for highway embankment construction, and reclamation of active and abandoned surface coal mines). Environmental constraints to the beneficial reuse of dry FGD by-product materials, based on laboratory and leachate studies, seem to be less than for coal fly ash.

• Research Organization: Dravo Lime Co., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FC21-91MC28060
• OSTI ID: 10107385
• Report Number(s): DOE/MC/28060--3509; ON: DE94000039
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010800
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320305
BUILDING MATERIALS
BY-PRODUCTS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COAL
DESULFURIZATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FERTILIZERS
FLUE GAS
FLY ASH
INDUSTRIAL WASTE MANAGEMENT
MARKET
NONRADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RECYCLING
SOLID WASTES
USES
WASTE MANAGEMENT